The Thing About Giving
by NeverDreamsOfMe
Summary: Lily has grown tired of her familys' material obsession with Christmas. Then, quite by accident, she discovers a land of people just like her. There, she may meet someone who might be able to change her mind about giving... DISCONTINUED. Details in AN.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or christmastown.

WEEE new fanfic =D enjoy!

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Chapter 1

It was snowing again. But in Christmastown, that's not news to anyone.

_Nothing's new to anyone in this town, _Lily thought, hunching deeper into her coat. This kind of weather didn't bother her much- not after spending a lifetime of seventeen in Christmastown- but tonight the cold, like most everything else, bit.

_It's just the same old bull all the time,_ she continued to rant to herself as she stomped her booted feet up Yuletide Hill. _Everyone wasting their lives obsessing over a stupid holiday that only comes around once a year. Before it's even over, they're planning the next one!_

Lily stood atop the hill now. Closing her eyes on the tiny network of lights behind her, she leaned back and exhaled a puff of a breath. She opened her eyes to a web of stars more beautiful and intricate than the town below could ever rival. _There has to be more than what they think is life, to what they want me to believe. I can't believe it. Nothing they say till make me think that Christmas is all our existence revolves around._

Though Lily had mused over this notion many times before, over time it had ceased to comfort and steel her resolve to find the truth. Instead, it left her feeling frustrated, even a little lonely. If Christmas wasn't all there was to life, then what _was_? Why hadn't she found it yet? And why was no one else asking the same questions? Every time she had thought to ask, she had gotten no answers, just received more questions in return. And when she had answered those questions, she was looked at with disapproval and suspicion. Well, in the cases of her mother and father, at least- those were the gentlest reactions by far.

Her grandfather had flown into a rage, raving about how she was trying to upset a way of life that he had always lived, that his father had always lived, and so on. Lily had backed up against the wall in fear before her parents rushed into the room to see what was going on. While they were trying to calm him, Lily had slipped out into the hallway to flee to her room before the rest of the house could figure out what was happening. Her mother came into her room later and stayed, stroking Lily's hair and attempting to convince her that Grandpa's anger had abated.

Needless to say, she avoided her grandfather until he died- two weeks later. Lily had simply woken up one morning, determined to make things right with him, only to open the door to her grandparent's bedroom to find Grandpa lying far too still on the bed and Grandma crying softly into her handkerchief.

Lily had paused in the doorway, disbelieving and awkward. In that instant, her grandmother looked up and motioned for Lily to come sit beside her. Lily automatically obeyed. She let the old woman lean on her, stroking her back, too stunned to cry herself. After a time, Grandma straightened and looked Lily straight in the face.

"Oh, Lily, sweetheart," she had crooned, patting her cheek, "I know how you must be feeling right now. Oh, yes, he told me why you weren't speaking to him. Darling, it wasn't _your _fault. You must remember that your grandpa had a bad heart for a very long time. There was nothing you could have done to prevent the attack, and you certainly didn't cause it. Oh, don't cry, honey."

At first, Lily was relieved; maybe there was finally someone who felt the same way she did and could give her some answers. But as Grandma went on, Lily had felt so angry that her grandmother was deliberately avoiding the subject Lily needed to talk most about, she couldn't help but cry. She had jumped up, shaking her head at the old woman in disbelief, and flown to her room, letting her family believe that she was mourning only for her grandfather. That had been three months ago.

Now, standing in the lightly falling snow, Lily let her new irritation wash over her: her younger sister, Mia, had come into Lily's room after dinner earlier to talk about Grandpa, the night he had yelled so much.

"Why was he so mad?" the fourteen-year-old asked, seating herself at Lily's cluttered desk, "Do you know? I could hear him all the way down in the playroom."

"He got mad at me. Because I asked him what more there was to life than hanging up tinsel and wrapping presents," Lily said flatly, staring at the ceiling from where she lay on her bed, hands behind her head.

"You mean... Christmas?" Mia's eyes grew wide at Lily's nerve.

"Naturally." Lily turned her head to look at her sister and frowned slightly; she didn't like when anyone other than her sat too close to her laptop. It immediately became apparent that this was the wrong thing to do.

"Why did you do it?" Mia had demanded, "What's that look on your face for? Do you even _care_?" Lily realized that Mia blamed her for Grandpa's death now. She sat up.

"Because I want an _answer_, not just everyone looking at me like _I'm _the insane one in a place where everyone is obsessed with one day of the year!" Lily's voice and temper were rising dangerously fast. She slapped her mattress in frustration, underlining the exclamation point at the end of her sentence.

"If you would just be like everyone else-," Mia began, rising from the chair.

Lily jumped up from her bed in response, trembling with rage, "'Everyone else' meaning a bunch of morons pretending that everything is always snowflakes and baubles? No thanks!" At which point she had shoved past her sister and stormed out of the house.

Lily exhaled again in exasperation, closing her eyes against the cloud of condensation swirling against the starry sky. _Cowards, _she thought, _They're too afraid to step out of their safe, protective bubble and examine the big picture for what it is, whatever it it. Because it has to be so much bigger than this._

It wasn't until the full moon was directly overhead, throwing a million sparkles on the falling and fallen snow, and Lily's toes were numb, that she sighed once more, turned, and retraced her angry and almost erased footprints back down the hill.

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i know that took awhile. thanks for reading, please review! chapter 2 will be up soon, it's shorter than this one.


	2. Chapter 2

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or christmastown.

short but sweet, i hope xD enjoy!

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Chapter 2

Lily hurried home: the sooner to get warm. Hopefully everyone was asleep. She didn't want to see anyone, didn't want to have to deal with their perpetual misunderstanding. She climbed the steps of the lit porch apprehensively- the living room light was on as well, she could see it through the drawn curtains. She stopped before the door, glaring at the window to her right, debating whether or not to wait until it went dark before going in. But she was already frozen and she wasn't going to last much longer out here. Resigning herself to the worst, she retrieved the spare key from under the doormat and unlocked the door as quietly as she could. She shoved the key back under the doormat, fumbling with her numb fingers, and slipped inside.

Delicious warmth swirled around Lily as she hastily but silently closed the door behind her. She spent a moment leaning against the door, cheek to wood, reveling in the sensation before locking the door again. She turned to the hall closet on her right to hang up her coat. After she had closed the door- wincing because it squeaked- she turned again and jumped slightly.

Poking her head cautiously around the entrance to the living room, was Mia.

"Lil? Sorry to scare you." As she spoke, she stepped out timidly into the hallway, dressed for bed in an old T-shirt of Mom's and a flannel pair of green pajama pants patterned with candy canes.

_I don't need this_, Lily thought. She stepped forward, wanting only to go upstairs to her bedroom and sleep.

"No, Lil, wait. I just want to talk."

Without stopping, Lily snarled, "You can take that talk and shove it up your-,"

"Pl_ease_, Lil." Mia rolled her eyes. "But seriously. I know you're angry with me, and you probably don't want to hear it, but just listen, okay?"

Lily hesitated mid-step about a foot from her sister. Mia might complain to Mom and Dad if Lily didn't let her say what she needed to. Like she needed _them _on her case, too! She stopped, planting her feet, and looked Mia emotionlessly in the eyes, wishing it was over.

Mia took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I got so mad at you, Lily. I jumped to conclusions and that wasn't fair to you. I was just really missing Grandpa today. That's why I asked in the first place. And I took it out on you without stopping to think about how you felt. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, 'cause it's just _so _easy to forget about Lily's feelings and take _everything _out on her," Lily said bitterly, rolling her eyes, "Story of my life right there."

"No, I didn't mean it like that-," Mia said hastily.

"Not consciously, you don't," Lily cut her off and shouldered past her, "Forget it. None of you get it."

When she peeked back over the banister, she saw Mia staring after her in sadness and disbelief.

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short, yeah, but i don't know about sweet xD thanks for reading, and please review! chapter 3's coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or christmastown. and just a warning, there is some material about religion in this chapter that might be offensive. don't say i didn't warn you.

here's my present to you! :D

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Chapter 3

When Lily reluctantly opened her eyes the next morning, her alarm clock stared impassively with it's red eyes back at her: 9:43. _Damn. _She groaned and rolled over to face the wall, shutting her eyes and willing sleep to take her again. She didn't feel any better now than she had last night. Sleep always provided a respite from her constant resentment, soothing it for a while even after waking. Now it seemed that her animosity merely took an eight-hour break and continued now that she'd woken. She breathed in deeply to sigh.

A rich, smooth, comforting smell filled Lily's nose in that breath. Her eyes opened again in surprise, breathing it in again_. Muffins? _She turned over onto her back and sat up, the purple comforter falling off shoulders bared by the black camisole she was wearing as a pajama top. That smell was definitely muffins.

Overcome with curiosity, Lily reluctantly untangled herself from her blankets, kneading the carpet with her toes, which were hidden by the long legs of her fleecy black present-patterned pants. Standing up, she crossed the room to her door and opened it, stepping out into the hall. The scent was much stronger out here. Lily turned to her left and followed the hallway past her parent's bedroom and grandmother's room to the stairs. She paused on the small landing halfway down the stairs, listening. _Is that humming?_

Lily trod silently, barefoot on the long rectangular rug running the length of the hardwood hallway, past the dining room and playroom (though the child's toys and picture books had been replaced long ago with video games and a library of DVDs and novels, it was still called the playroom) to the kitchen. She poked her head into the entryway, much like Mia had done only the night before.

Standing at the counter, wearing an apron over her reindeer-patterned pajamas and stirring something in a large mixing bowl, was her mother. She turned and, upon seeing Lily squinting suspiciously into the kitchen, laughed and beckoned with the wooden spoon. She continued to stir as Lily leaned against the counter next to her, watching and blinking in the brightness after the dusk of the hallway. Mom had a long, narrow face, a small nose but large green eyes, full lips usually housing a smile. A small smudge of flour decorated her cheek. Her dirty blond hair was pulled back into a messy bun.

"What'cha makin'?" Lily stuck a finger into the batter.

"Mom slapped the back of Lily's wrist, but Lily ate the dough anyway, "Cinnamon rolls. Wash your hands and you can help me."

Lily turned the faucet and let warm water run over her hands. "Where is everyone?" she asked, reaching for the soap.

"Grandma left to run some errands, and your dad took Mia sledding out on Yuletide Hill before the rest of the kids could get to it," Mom placed the dough on the flour-sprinkled counter, "We got a few inches, as I'm sure you saw last night." She looked at Lily sideways. Mom didn't approve of Lily's frequent storms out of the house, but had stopped trying to stop her long ago. She knew it did no good.

Lily covered a yawn with the back of her wet hand, "It was still pretty light when I got in. It must've picked up after I went to bed." She dried her hands on the towel before dusting her palms with flour.

Lily and her mother took turns kneading the dough before taking out the rolling pin. Mom rolled the dough into a flat rectangle while Lily readied a mixture of cinnamon, sugar, and mini chocolate chips. Just for kicks, she crushed up a candy cane and threw that in, too. As Mom sprinkled Lily's concoction over the dough and rolled it into a log shape, Lily cut a length of string and greased the round cake pan. Mom held the dough for Lily as she used the string to carve out rolls and place them in the pan. They timed it perfectly; the timer for the muffins went off just as Lily was putting the last roll in the pan.

The front door opened as Lily was munching on a warm chocolate chip muffin, bringing the laughter of her father and sister.

"We're home!" her father boomed. Lily could just hear the front door closing under his voice.

_We noticed_, Lily thought sarcastically.

"In the kitchen, dear," Mom called back, up to her wrists in soapy water.

Though Lily was annoyed by their interrupting her rare non-shouting time with Mom, she was happy to see her family greet each other. Dad, who was six feet tall with an athletic build, wavy black hair atop a rather square head, and sparkling hazel eyes, bent down and kissed Mom's forehead. Mom gazed adoringly at her husband with her luminous green eyes. Mia and Grandma trailed behind Dad; Mia, hair in a ponytail, letting Grandma, stooped and wrinkled, white hair cut short like a boy's, hold onto Mia's arm. All three were dressed in layers, cheeks flushed from the warmth of the house after the cold outside.

"Lily! Good morning, sleepyhead," Dad said, ruffling her hair and kissing the top of her head.

Lily swallowed her mouthful of muffin, "Morning, Dad."

"You missed all the fun, Lil," Mia said, sitting in the chair on Lily's right, "Dad almost hit a tree stump and turned too fast so he fell flat on his face in the snow!" She unwrapped a muffin from it's liner, grinning. She seemed to forgive Lily for last night, though Lily didn't quite forgive her.

Lily snickered despite herself. It was just the type of thing Dad would do! Though he was a grown man, he behaved like a kid at times. She supposed that's what made him a great dad.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you, Lil. I just might push _you_ down in the snow if you don't watch out!" Dad said, laughing heartily. He reached for a muffin from the plate at the center of the table.

"There won't be any pushing today," Mom said, bending to take the cinnamon rolls out of the oven.

"Oh, leave them be," Grandma said, settling into her chair on Lily's left with her mug of tea, "If my son-in-law wants to behave like a little boy, then let him. He'll have to grow up someday."

Dad chuckled, "Someday, but not today, Ma." He squeezed her withered hand and winked at his daughters.

Lily saw Mom roll her eyes as she poured icing over the steaming rolls.

In almost no time, the cinnamon rolls were gone. Everyone complimented Lily's spur-of-the-moment decision to add candy canes to them; they added a nice crunch and a contrast to all the chocolate chips. After breakfast, everyone went upstairs to get ready for church, Lily rather reluctantly. She hated church, the endless asking of the empty sky for forgiveness, redemption, and- she snorted- the meaning of their existence.

_I mean, it's not like the clouds will answer. And_, she thought, climbing the stairs to her room,_ Whoever wrote all those hymns had_ no _taste in music._ She snickered as she shut the door to her room.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the light: Lily's room was always dark. Keeping the curtains drawn made the room feel like a warm, homey cave. The dark colors- matching purple and black bedspread, wallpaper, and carpet- further maintained the illusion. No one else came in here much, everyone saying her room was "dark and depressing and badly needs a cleaning," as her mother put it one time. Lily couldn't deny the cleaning bit, but she really loved her room, her own little corner of the world.

Lily dressed carefully, choosing the apparel she knew her family (by "family," she really meant Mom) would disapprove of the most. She shimmyed into a black, lacy corset that Lily laced up herself, twisting around in the full-length mirror on the wall next to her closet to see what she was doing. Then she delicately stretched a black pair of fishnets over her thin calves and slightly bigger thighs, taking care not to rip them. Over these she pulled a layered, short black skirt and a pair of socks- no one would see them in her favorite pair of strappy, knee-length boots anyway. These she wiggled into before slipping into her favorite jean jacket, black of course, and short- stopping at her waist directly over her belly button. She only buttoned the middle of the three buttons, letting the corset be seen above and below it.

Next, Lily applied her makeup. She carefully outlined her hazel eyes- Dad's color but Mom's shape- in heavy black eyeliner, following with mascara. After applying black lipstick, she was done, in the makeup department. She didn't bother with foundation and blush and everything else like Mia did. Lily preferred this: simple, yet striking. Why waste all that time and money to make your makeup look natural? If you want natural, just don't wear any, was Lily's argument.

After running a brush through her hair, Lily paused for a moment to take in her reflection. Her layered black hair rested on her shoulders, framing a face shaped exactly like her mother's. Her body was shaped like her father's in that she was tall (in fact, she was almost as tall as her mom now), and her petite form disguised a strength also passed on by her father. Lily was often called the pretty daughter, but she thought she got too much credit. Mia was pretty, too, in her own way. She had Mom's honey blond hair, naturally curled, contrasting with a square jaw that looked like Dad's. Mom's pretty green eyes filled most of her face. Mia was shorter, more compact than Lily, everything a little more angled where Lily was curvy. Even so, Mia was charming. People tended to like Mia more because of her easiness around people, her open smile. They took one look at Lily and winced slightly. Maybe it was the way she dressed that intimidated people.

Upon having that thought, Lily chuckled, _They're just jealous because they can't look this good. _She twirled, loving the way it looked and felt when her skirt flared out around her. After pulling the brush through her hair one more time, she bounded downstairs where the rest of her family was waiting. Unfortunately, she bumped into her mom at the foot of the stairs, who was about to shout up to Lily to hurry up. Lily, not expecting the impact, bounced backward and almost fell over the bottommost stair. She stepped up one and grabbed the banister with her left hand to regain her balance.

Mom took one look at Lily, her eyes growing wide with horror before she closed them. "Jesus, Lily," she hissed between her teeth.

"Nevermind that now, darling," Dad said, coming up behind Mom and placing a strong hand on her shoulder, frowning slightly at Lily as he did so, "We're going to be late."

"Not until she changes!" Mom spat, her whisper managing to stab the air with every syllable, looking furiously up at her husband. Lily's temper sparked.

"Dad's right, Mom," Lily spoke up, mockingly sweet, "Wouldn't want to be late, now." She smiled, sarcastically innocent, at Mom's livid face and strutted towards the door.

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thanks for reading; please review! happy holidays!


	4. Chapter 4

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or christmastown. there's some more religion stuff in here that might be offensive, so be careful. this will be the last chapter it happens, i promise.

sorry it took so long, enjoy!

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Chapter 4

Lily had gone beyond the point of annoyed. She was now officially pissed.

First of all, she had been dragged through the snow-covered town- again, nothing new, but a tad uncomfortable in fishnets- to go to church, the place she hated the most. Still steamed about the comment Mom made about her clothes, Lily didn't even mouth along with the hymns like she usually did as the congregation mindlessly sang. She caught Mom shooting her dirty looks every few lines out of the corner of her eye.

Then she had to sit through some bullshit sermon about giving, how it reflects the love in people's hearts (_Ha!_ Lily thought, _No one ever gives me anything but a headache. I love all of you, too!_), and that since God gave them all life, he is the epitome of love and will welcome them back home in heaven when they die (At this, Lily actually snorted, earning her another reproaching look from Mom, _How do you welcome home someone you've forgotten about?_).

After the service was_ finally _over, Grandma suggested that they all go and eat lunch together at a restaurant down the road that one of her friends had recommended. Everyone agreed, but Lily had groaned inwardly; her outfit had caused the quiet chaos she wanted, but it wasn't very good for walking around in the snow all day.

The meal was delicious, cocoa hot, thick, and plentiful. Everyone was quiet for a time, enjoying their food and the lively atmosphere of the dining area. The adults talked as Lily and Mia people-watched.

"Lily," Mom had started, "About this morning-,"

"Mom!" Lily exclaimed, nearly choking on her chicken wrap. She swallowed and glanced hastily around to see if anyone was looking. She leaned across the table towards her mom and said quietly, "Not here, okay?" Knowing her mother, she would be likely to start a scene in front of the whole restaurant.

Now that they were walking up the front steps of the porch, Lily grudgingly admitted to herself that that scene was coming at her pretty fast. However, she managed to slip away while everyone was hanging up their coats and run up the stairs before anyone could say anything. She escaped to her room and closed the door, leaning on it with her back. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath to settle herself. Now that she was alone, it was easier to calm down. She let her breath out with a huff and pushed herself off the door.

The afternoon was uneventful. Not wanting to be around anyone, Lily spent it mostly in her room, catching up on reading her favorite fanfictions on her laptop, and continuing one of her own about her favorite band: Your Acidic Fling. It wasn't until around four o'clock that she dared to venture out of her room.

Creeping down the hall, she saw her grandmother's door closed- probably knitting or sleeping. She tiptoed down the stairs and listened at the foot of them. The sounds of a TV reached Lily's ears; Mom and Dad were watching their Sunday movie and wouldn't move for a while. Grinning, she scampered into the entryway immediately to her left and spent a few hours gleefully glued to her Funcenter 4.

When Mom called everyone to the table for dinner, Lily landed back into reality with a bump. She blinked and tore her eyes away from the colorful screen to look at the clock on the DVD player. 7:03. Wow. Lily had been so absorbed in her game of "Pyrus the Yellow Dragon" that she'd lost track of time. She hadn't even realized how hungry she was. She saved the game, turned everything off, and hurried into the kitchen, her stomach growling.

The rest of the family was just sitting down when Lily bounded into the room. Too hungry to notice Mom giving her the look again, Lily sat down immediately, too.

Conversation passed around the table like the dishes of food did. Unlike the food, the conversation often skipped over Lily, but she didn't care. She was too busy devouring Mom's roast and vegetables with mashed potatoes and rolls on the side. Chugging about half her glass of milk, she reached for seconds. She tried to eat more slowly and politely this time. In spite of Lily's teenage boyish appetite, dinner wasn't over that quickly, their talk carrying them over after the meal was gone. Finally, everyone got up and began to help clear the table.

"Lily," Mom said. Lily, who had been planning to flee to her room again as soon as her plate was at the sink, looked up at her mom across the table with a sick feeling in her full stomach.

Mom took a deep breath, "Lily, the way you dressed today was highly inappropriate, especially for church. When I tell you to change, I expect you to do it, no questions asked. I don't like the way you dress."

"Why not?" Lily asked, knowing full well why not. Everyone else in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. A deathly silence fell upon the room for a moment.

"For one, you show too much skin," Mom said, looking pointedly at Lily's chest, then back to her eyes again, "And _fishnets_? Lily, you look like a prostitute! Frankly, it scares me the way you don't care. What's your problem?"

Lily's temper, which had since cooled from that morning, flared up again in full force, "You wanna know what my problem is? _You. _You're my problem! You're always on my case about _everything_, constantly criticizing my every move, but then you turn around and act like it doesn't matter! Which is it?" She demanded.

"I leave it alone because I don't want to make you angry," Mom's voice was rising now, too.

"Well, that's a smart move, 'cause I'm angry _now_!" Lily roared. Through the red veil that had fallen over her eyes, she saw the faces of her father, sister, and grandmother, swallowed by their wide, disbelieving, frightful eyes. Her mother's face was twisted in anger, mirroring Lily's expression, she was sure; but her eyes revealed something deeper: fear.

"If you wouldn't be so moody and defensive all the time, maybe you'd listen to what I'm trying to tell you!" Mom argued.

"You never listen to me!" Lily shrieked, "I won't listen to anyone who won't return the favor!"

"That's it," Mom growled, "You're-"

"No! _This _is it!" Lily was shaking with anger, every part of her body screaming to lash out physically: to break, tear, spill blood all over this kitchen. She gave in to that impulse, hurling the plate she was holding against the wall. It shattered into an innumerable amount of pieces, raining down upon the floor, ground to dust under Lily's boots as she blindly ran from the room.

"Lily, get back here!" Her mother yelled, but it was far too late. Lily was already a long way gone.

"Fuck you!" Lily screamed back. The house shook as, flung open, the front door hit the wall behind it.

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thanks for reading, please review! chapter 5's coming!


	5. Chapter 5

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, christmastown, or halloweentown. because this is the chapter it finally comes in xD

enjoy!

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Chapter 5

The town was silent except for the sound of Lily's boots pounding through the snow, the gasps dragging in and out of her lungs, making puffs of moisture in the frozen air. The streets were lit by the streetlights overhead, but the light of the full moon almost made them obsolete- when it peeked out from between the clouds. Lily ran past everything in a blur black as the night surrounding her. The only evidence showing she had been there at all were the smeared, angry bootprints she left behind in the snow.

_Fuck them. Fuck them all, _she thought over and over again as she powered through the snow, images of the fight still whirling in her mind.

By the time Lily had calmed down an infinitesimal amount, she was breathing hard, but refused to stop. All she wanted to do was put some distance between her and the people that were supposed to be her family. Finally, she collapsed into the snow, the cold air stabbing into her lungs with every desperate breath she took. She lay there for a long time, trying to catch her breath.

Lily sat up when her breathing returned to a normal rhythm, shaking the snow out of her hair. Smoothing it down, she looked around. Not recognizing where she was and disoriented in the dark, she looked behind her where she had seen some light out of the corner of her peripheral vision. The town was a small drop of light down below. Lily had never come this far up Yuletide Hill before. It made her feel proud- and even more defiant.

The freezing wet of the snow against Lily's fishnetted legs were making them go numb. Slowly, painfully, she got to her knees, then stood up. As she brushed the snow from her clothes, the bashful moon stepped out from behind her veil of clouds again, casting sparkles on the snow and silver hues on anything that wasn't covered in it.

Something odd happened just then. Directly in front of Lily, something lit up, so brilliantly orange that she cried out in surprise and threw her arms up in front of her eyes to shield them. She squinted out from between the sleeves of her jacket to see what the light was. It wasn't so blinding now, so she could look at it properly. It was probably a good thing, because as she did, her eyes widened.

At the wide base of a tall pine tree, there was a pumpkin, a glowing yellow face cut into it. In fact, the whole thing glimmered. Lily had never seen anything like it. She stepped forward, intrigued. It wasn't sitting on the ground, but it didn't appear to be resting on the tree, either. What _was _it? Lily took another step forward, extending her hand to touch it.

No sooner had she put her fingers on it, Lily was pulled into the pumpkin with a force she couldn't see. Before she knew it, she was falling headfirst through a swirling dimension of baby blue and white. Everything went all white for a moment, and then...

"Oomph!" Lily landed face-down on the ground. There was something weird about this ground, though... like it's dead brown color... and it's lack of snow...

_No snow?! _Lily pushed herself up off the ground and jumped up, taking in her strange surroundings. Everything here in the forest was brown and dull, quite unlike Christmastown, where everything was bright and colorful. There were no leaves on these trees, which were shaped oddly; Lily didn't think they were evergreens. Looking down, Lily saw that she was standing on a miniature hill, a path leading down to the woods beyond at her feet. Curious to see how she came to be here, Lily turned around. Another of the strange trees was there, except this one had a strangely shaped hole in it. Stepping to her right, Lily saw a door shaped like a Christmas tree. It was painted in detail, the colors faded, with ornaments and everything. In fact, the doorknob itself was an ornament. Lily cocked her head to one side, wondering what it meant.

A weird sound made Lily turn around again. She gasped.

Forming a semi-circle around the base of the hill were creatures Lily had never seen before. Four of them were scrawny with huge heads, all wrapped up in raggedy bandages that were falling off in some places. The remaining five were hovering in the air, flapping their torn wings. They had muscled bodies and horribly long claws.

Though there were two tyes of the creatures, they had their similarities. One, the creepy way they never seemed to stand- or hover- still. Remaining in one place, they swayed and bobbed endlessly. The flying creatures had two antennae that seemed to be crinkled at the ends, though the grounded things only had one that curled at the end.

The last two likenesses, however, were the most bone-chilling, the first of which was the eyes. Big, bulging, and a bright yellow in color, they looked at Lily like they were staring into her very soul with a dead, primitive hunger. Even though the grounded creature's heads were bandaged so that only one eye showed, the effect wasn't diminished.

But the thing about them that frightened Lily the most about them, the thing that made the hair on her arms stand on end, was the identical mark on thier chests: a distorted, elongated heart with a thorny X though it. Her own heart filled with dread and terror, pumping it through her whole body, Lily stepped backward.

They charged. The bandaged foes pounced at her, their freakishly long fingers outstretched; the winged beasts swooped down upon her. Lily shrieked and sprang to her left, starting to run for the trees beyond. She made it down the small incline and leaped over a large tree root.

Something slammed into Lily's back in mid-jump, it's fingers closing around her waist and driving her face-first into the dirt. Realizing at once what it must be, Lily thrust an elbow behind her with all her strength, feeling it collide with the side of a very round head. One of it's hands released her, and thinking fast, Lily rolled over onto the other hand to crush it's fingers.

To Lily's horror, this had the complete opposite effect of what she had intended. Prising it's hand out from underneath her, it didn't run away, but instead raised it's spindly, bandaged arms and raked it's fingers down Lily's chest. Lily screamed at the excruciating cold that followed it's scratches, worse than the coldest night in Christmastown forcibly entering her body and clutching her wildly pounding heart. By now, the rest of the creatures had surrounded Lily and were making further assaults on their victim. Fresh screams ripped from Lily's mouth as she lashed out with her legs and one arm, instinctively keeping the other curled against her chest, trying to fight them off. But there were just too many, and the more they tore at her, the more cold slipped into her veins, weakening her.

Just as Lily's hope was fading, just when the last of her strength failed, she heard a cry quite unlike her own: "No!"

From behind all her enemies, a new shape emerged, jumping with it's arms behind it's head and landing in front of Lily's prone form. It brought it's arms down upon the creatures in it's way as it descended. Lily fought to see everything properly... it was a boy, dressed in black just like she was... he held something in his hand... yes, that's what he was fighting them with, why he was swinging his arms down... some kind of weapon. He whipped around as soon as his feet touched the ground to face Lily's attackers. They jumped him, but he held his own, vanquishing them with the weapon he carried. Lily fought against the blackness gathering around the rims of her eyes as he sent them flying, then they dissipated.

Ass soon as he had defeated the last creature, he spun around again to face Lily, his weapon vanishing in a spark of light. He knelt down beside her so his face was all she saw, lips moving in a question she couldn't hear. She looked up into his eye- half his face was covered with a familiar round orange something. The eye she looked into was a peircing blue, the color of a deep winter day saturated with fear. They swallowed his face, would have swallowed her, but the darkness was just too close.

His lips formed the question again, but Lily was falling into the blackness that hid his face from her. She felt a pair of arms scoop her hastily off the ground before she was pulled under.

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*gasp* i know, i'm so bad for that cliffhanger xD chapter 6 is on the way! please review!


	6. Chapter 6

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or halloweentown.

here you go! enjoy!

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Chapter 6

Everything was still black when Lily came to, but that was only because she wasn't sure if her eyes would work or not. Her whole body felt like her toes felt when she went inside after being out in the cold for a long time: she knew they were still there, but they hurt so much they were numb until they started to warm up from the inside out.

There was a blanket covering her, though. Lily twitched her fingers, feeling it. As she did, it seemed like everything came back to her, the awareness of her body- and the memory of what happened. She gasped, eyes flying open, and sat upright abruptly.

"Oh, you _are_ awake," a gentle voice said from somewhere to Lily's right. She jumped and looked around.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," said the voice. It's owner was a very strange-looking girl. She was young- she could have been Lily's older sister- with waist-length red hair, very wide, round eyes, and long legs. The thing that made her look so odd was that she seemed to be an old rag doll that had been torn and sewn back together hundreds of times; stitches covered the whole of her body. The dress she was wearing looked like a haphazard patchwork quilt. She was sitting in a chair in front of one of the many windows making up the wall, the grey light making her almost a silhouette, a bundle of cloth in her lap and a needle and thread in her hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. She pronounced every word clearly and distinctly, but Lily didn't think that she thought Lily was stupid; maybe that was just the way she spoke, "You slept so deeply for so long, and you were bleeding so much-,"

"_Bleeding?_" Lily looked down at her chest. Long red cuts were healed there, like angry red cornrows down her body. Panicking, she held her arms out in front of her: identical marks crossed every which way. Ripping her legs out from under the covers told her the same story, looking all the worse for her torn fishnets, "I didn't even realize... They were so cold...," And speaking of cold, Lily noticed her bare, goosebumped arms, "Where's my jacket? And did you say 'slept'? For how long?"

"Doctor Finkelstein thinks that the fact that you were bleeding saved you," the girl said, her bulging eyes still upon Lily, "Your strong will to live, and the fight you put up," here, she gave Lily a wry smile, "kept your heart going. To answer your questions: you slept for about a day. As for your jacket, I have it here." She held up the bundle in her lap, which Lily indeed recognized as her jacket, "It was pretty torn up, too."

Lily looked between her jacket, the patchwork girl, then the needle in her hand, putting it all together after a second. "Thank you for sewing it back together for me... I'm Lily, by the way; what's your name?"

"I'm Sally," the girl replied, "And it's no problem. I've had, well, I've had lots of practice." She looked down at the jacket sheepishly. Lily got the impression that Sally didn't mean only clothes. Sally returned to her needlework as she continued, "Besides, I didn't want to leave you alone, in case you woke up."

Lily pondered Sally's words. She imagined how she might have felt if Sally hadn't been there. Waking up, in a strange bed, in a room she had never seen before, with no one there to help dilute the memory of the attack still lurking in her mind... Lily would have lost it. Though Sally was a little creepy to look at- what with her over-large eyes and infinite stitches- she had a very kind nature. And having her here was definitely better than nobody at all.

"Thanks, Sally," Lily said, really meaning it, "I would have gone insane if I'd woken up here all by myself." She took Sally's silence and bowed head over the jacket to be a sign of embarrassment, so she hastily went on, "Hey, do you know where I can take a shower? I still feel really...," _What _did she still feel? Violated? Cold? Lost? "...off."

"Of course. The bathroom's right over there." Sally looked up from Lily's jacket and inclined her head to her right. Lily followed her gaze to a door at the other end of the round room, opposite the bed.

"Will you be okay?" Lily turned her head to look back at Sally, "Do you need help?"

"No, I'll be okay." Lily stood up, her legs a little wobbly.

"If you leave your clothes outside the door, I'll wash them for you, "Sally offered as Lily made her way unsteadily across the room.

"Okay, I will. Thanks, Sally." Lily attempted to smile at her at the entryway to the bathroom, but it was like she had forgotten how. Sally got the idea, though, and gently smiled back as Lily closed the door.

The door clicked shut at the same time a huff of air burst out of Lily's lungs. Leaning up with her back against the door, Lily closed her eyes, glad to be alone. Unfortunately, an image of the creatures bearing down on her assailed the insides of her eyelids and a lance of hear stabbed her heart, making her wounds prickle with the dreadful cold. Her eyes flew open again and she pushed herself off the door as if it burned. Panicking because she opened her eyes to more darkness, she fumbled on the wall for a light switch. Finally finding one, she flipped it.

The bathroom was small and rectangular, tiled on walls and floor with a pattern of black spiders on a white background, through most of the floor was obscured with three black plush rugs. To Lily's immediate left was the white marble counter and sink, cabinets painted black below it. To her right was another door; opening it revealed shelves of towel sets patterned with spiders to match the tile. Lily selected a towel and washcloth and closed the closet door. She started to move towards the bathtub- the shower curtain (black with white spiders) drawn, running the width of the room- when she caught a look at herself in the mirror above the counter. At first, she didn't recognize herself and did a double take, leaning in closer to the glass.

_God, I'm a mess. _Lily's hair was a proper bird's nest; following the way it fell again drew her attention to the scratches on her chest and arms. Eyeliner and mascara were smeared all the way down her cheeks like she had been crying... but what was that? Lily leaned in even closer to the mirror and touched a raised bump, almost like a scar, that stretched from the hairline near her lift temple all the way down to her jaw like a crescent moon. She was positive it hadn't been there before, surely she would have noticed a gash that big... in fact, looking at the wounds on the rest of her body, they were all healed except for the redness that remained. How had they healed so fast, if she had only been torn up two days ago? Wanting to get her mind off the troubling question, Lily scrutinized herself more deeply. She found a hollowness in her features, a raw, underlying fear that definitely hadn't been there before, thrown into deeper relief from the harsh lights above her head. The change scared her.

She turned away from the mirror and set her towel in the floor before the shower, opposite the toilet. She reached into the tub on the other side next to the toilet to turn the water on. While it warmed up, she undressed and cracked open the door, shoving her clothes outside as Sally had suggested. In that process, she nearly knocked over three bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash that had been sitting along the wall outside the door. Lily grabbed them and jumped in the shower.

Lily spent a much longer time in this shower than she normally would have. Never before had the water been so warm and relaxing, the body wash (vanilla and jasmine) and shampoo (strawberry) so fragrant and cleansing. The only drawback was the lack of a comb. That wasn't a disadvantage, really: running her fingers through her hair to distribute the conditioner, coupled with the hot water and the twilight behind the curtain, was very soothing. At times, Lily simply stood under the shower head, letting nothing else but the pounding on and running off of the water penetrate her senses. She had always felt very safe in the shower, like it was her own little den from which the outside world couldn't penetrate. Today, that familiar feeling was an inexpressible comfort.

It was a very long time before Lily turned off the water and dragged herself out of the tub. She stood dripping on the plush carpet, burrowing her toes in the softness, like she had done two days ago (was it really only then? It felt like a millenium ago.) when she had woken up to the smell of muffins, and dried herself. Wrapping herself in the towl, she looked in the mirror again. Though her skin was flushed from the length of time she spent in the hot shower, she looked a little better. More refreshed. She tried to ignore the unsettling scar and horror of everything in her eyes... _Okay. Now I look almost normal. _It was then that she noticed that her clothes were neatly folded and clean on the counter, a comb resting on top. She must have missed it when she grabbed the rest of the stuff. She toweled her hair off, bending over so it was upside down, then she dressed, noticing that her fishnets were missing. It was probably just as well, Lily thought as she combed her hair properly, wincing with the pain of tugging on all the knots; fixing a pair of fishnets was probably a ton harder than mending a jacket. Still, they were her only black pair.

She was greeted outside by Sally and her jacket, which hung over Sally's arm. She held it out to Lily, asking, "Are you feeling better now?"

"Lots, thanks," Lily said, slipping her arms into her jacket; after the dense warmth of the bathroom, the bedroom seemed really cold, "Whose house is this, anyway? Is it yours?"

"Oh, no," Sally said, handing Lily her boots, which Lily had forgotten all about. She sat down to put them on, looking up at Sally speaking, "This house belongs to Jack." Lily wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a dreamy look enter Sally's eyes when she said the name, "I live next door with Dr. Finkelstein. I'm one of his experiments, you see." _That might explain all the stitches, _Lily thought. Sally went on, "The doctor wanted you to stay close to him for observation, but the rest of us thought it would be better for you to stay here because his most recent experiment was stolen."

"_Stolen?_" Lily exclaimed, shoving her right foot into the respective boot. "Who did it?"

"That's what Jack and Sora are trying to figure out now," Sally explained, "In fact, that's what they were doing before they found you," she added, with her wry smile.

"Who's Sora?" Lily asked, looking up from her left boot.

"If you want to meet him, there he is right now," Sally said, looking over Lily's head out the wall of windows, "He's looking up at us right now."

Lily, fully shod, leaped up and dashed to the window and looked. Sure enough, three floors down, a boy with piercing blue eyes was looking up at her, three other people behind him.

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thank you! please review!


	7. Chapter 7

disclaimer: i do not own kingdom hearts, or halloweentown.

i know, i know. i'm so bad. here it is!

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Chapter 7

Sora, as Sally had said, was the boy with the winter blue eyes. Dressed mostly in black, he seemed to be wearing some sort of costume. Sally's theory was a "vampire," whatever that was. His outfit was comprised of a black and white jacket over a long-sleeved deep navy zip-up shirt... which didn't make much sense to Lily, but it looked cool anyway. The collar of the jacket was turned up to reveal white wings. The crown-shaped zipper of the shirt sported wings, too, looking a lot like the wings on his back. A pair of baggy pants were held up by a navy blue belt and wrapped skin-tight below the knee with red bandages. His hands were clothed in white gloves, his feet in pointy black shoes. Like she'd noticed before, a grinning, winking pumpkin on his head covered his right eye; what she hadn't noticed was the way his hair spiked every which way, brown except for the tips which were stained black, and the easy way he smiled, revealing miniature fangs.

He was sexy.

He was followed by a short duck, wrapped in an innumerable amount of dirty bandages, except for his stomach which seemed to be missing (that part made Lily a little queasy); a tall wolf whose clothes were patched and frayed and who sported a bolt on the top of his head; and an even taller skeleton, who for some reason was wearing a Santa Claus suit, complete with beard. He spoke jovially, "Ah, here she is! Our little lost forester! How are you feeling? I hope my house has been comfortable?"

"Very comfortable, thanks," Lily replied, a little overwhelmed by his enthusiasm, "So, you're Jack?"

"Why, yes I am," he said, "So Sally's told you all about me?" he winked at Sally as he asked.

"Well, no, not all-," Lily began.

"Of course not, Sally was never one for gossip-"

Jack was cut off by Sora, "Anyway, you obviously know Jack. This is Donald," he indicated the duck, "and Goofy," he gestured at the wolf. "So, how _do _you feel? You were so disoriented when I got to you- probably from all those Heartless and that gash on your face. " His eyes flicked to Lily's cheek and, frowning slightly with a shadow in his beautiful eyes, said, "I brought you up here as fast as I could, and tried to patch you up as best as I could while the Doctor took care of the Heartless wounds, but I guess my ma-," Here, Donald elbowed Sora's leg and cleared his throat loudly. Sora turned away from Lily to look at him, and he gave Sora a meaningful look that Lily couldn't decipher. "I mean," Sora said, turning back to Lily, "I guess I'm just not a doctor like the Doctor." He smiled in a sheepish manner and Lily's heart melted.

"And the Doctor _is _the best!" Jack proclaimed, stabbing a long finger into the air with pride.

"I'm fine, thanks... is _that _how this scar got there? From the Hearless?" Lily asked, feeling it again and frowning, "But even if you did make it better, it shouldn't be a scar yet, right?"

"We- er- sped the process up a bit," Sora said carefully, "We thought you would freak out if you woke up with a huge, barely healed cut on half your face." He smiled again, and Lily shyly returned it.

"Lily didn't seem too freaked out by the scar," Sally spoke up, "I didn't hear her scream in the bathroom, anyway." She shot Lily an amused look to show that she was joking, and Lily giggled.

"I was freaked out mostly because I didn't know where I was," Lily explained, "Come to think of it, I still don't."

"Why, this is Halloweentown!" Jack said as if it were the most obvious thing, spreading his arms out wide in a dramatic gesture.

"But...," Sora crossed his arms and a puzzled look spread over his face, "Lily, right?" Lily nodded, and he continued, "Didn't you know that already? I mean, you look like... you dress like...," He blushed in a remarkably cute way and looked down.

Goofy spoke, "I think what Sora's trying to say is that you look like the locals here in Halloweentown."

"Because of the way I dress?" Lily looked down at herself. Why would they think she knew this town from the way she dressed? _Oh,_ she realized, _they must think I'm _from _here because of my clothes._

"No, I didn't know that," she said, looking back at Sora, "Because I found myself here on accident. I was up on Yuletide Hill, and I-,"

"Yuletide Hill?" Donald exclaimed.

"In _Christmastown_?" Sora looked dumbstruck.

"Yeah. That's where I'm from. Christmastown. Why, how do _you_ know about it?"

"Well, for one, Jack discovered Christmastown on accident, too," Sora looked at Jack. Lily understood now why he had a Santa suit, but still not why he was wearing it, "It also explains why we found you in the forest and why the door was open. But you don't look at all like you're from Christmastown."

_If you meet my family, you'll know why_, Lily thought. She shrugged and said out loud, "It's just my style."

"Your style would fit right in here in Halloweentown," Jack said.

"Thanks," Lily said. She turned to Sally and asked, "Can I go out and see the town?"

Sally looked at her, cocking her head thoughtfully, "Hmm. You woke quicker than we thought you would. You're looking a lot better, too... If you feel all right, then I suppose it's okay."

"I'll be glad to give you a tour," Sora said.

Lily's heart warmed to Sora's generosity. She smiled at him and said, "I'd like that."

"What an excellent idea!" Jack cried, "Let's all go and-," he was interrupted by Goofy, who pulled Jack's arm down to whisper in his ear. Jack listened, and his empty eye sockets widened in comprehension.

"Let's go," Sora said, grabbing Lily's hand.

As they left, Lily swore she heard Sally giggle.

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thank you, chapter 8's on the way! please review!


	8. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey, guys.

I've really given this some thought. I can't finish this story.

It's been way too long, and I've grown up too much since then.

I still like this story, but I don't know how it ends. I never figured it out. I feel like to finish it now would be like writing a whole new story, taking the whole thing completely out of context. You know that I hate to do this if you've read my profile.

I'm really sorry, but this story is discontinued.

I'm leaving it "In Progress" just in case I do finish it in some unforseeable future. But please don't get your hopes up.

Again, I'm so sorry. =(

Peace,

NeverDreams


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